About the Music

American Notes

As part of Orpheus’ ongoing commitment to new works by living composers, the American Notes commissioning initiative seeks to engage composers from diverse musical styles and backgrounds to create musical pieces that explore the question of American identity – particularly in our increasingly globalized world. Orpheus is proud to continue the American Notes exploration over the next two years with composers Vijay Iyer and Shuying Li. Each of these impressive composers will begin with the complex question of what defines the American spirit today – the characteristics, experiences, communities, and relationships.

World Premieres

Join Orpheus as it presents the world premiers of two new musical works this year. This October, composer-performer Vijay Iyer creates a new piece for the orchestra that encapsulates the turbulent feelings of being an American and in December, composer Shuying Li premieres her new work for Orpheus that takes the audience through her challenging journey of becoming a mother. Both of these programs are part of the orchestra’s American Notes initiative.

Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra releases its first self-produced album, featuring Beethoven’s Symphonies nos. 5 and 7, on February 25, 2014. Both recordings were taken from live performances at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium: Symphony No. 5 was recorded on October 11, 2012, and Symphony No. 7 was recorded on December 4, 2010.

Orpheus’ recording legacy today consists of over 70 albums, including the Grammy Award-winning Shadow Dances: Stravinsky Miniatures. Our extensive catalog for Deutsche Grammophon includes Baroque classics, works by Haydn, Mozart, Dvorak, Grieg, and Tchaikovsky, as well as a number of 20th-century masterpieces.

Orpheus began a new relationship with EMI Classics in 2007 with our recording of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons featuring violinist Sarah Chang. A collection of Mozart piano concerti with Jonathan Biss was released in October 2008, also on EMI Classics.